Thursday, November 19, 2009

"I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out; and I thought how it is worse, perhaps, to be locked in." Virginia Woolf

This is such a heart-breaking story that, I hope, through our collective donations we can make hopeful.

This is Alise. She is living in a household where she is being sexually abused by her 16 year old brother. The situation has become unbearable and her mother turned to Olinda and Reencontro to see if they could help.

Collectively, they decided the best solution was to get Alise out of the home and into boarding school. It costs $300 per year for the next five years to send her.

$1500 to save this girl from this horrible situation.

When I met with Alise she was an incredibly shy 10 year old. She did tell me her favorite subject in school was math. And, she lit up when Olinda explained to her that I was visiting from America.

It was so sad to see her mother in so much pain about a household situation that she simply cannot control. And it was truly heart-breaking to witness a little girl who was so clearly damaged without access to therapy to deal all of the emotional scars.

When I first sat down with Alise I was worried about how she would do being away from her mother and her baby sister. She sort of clung to her mother as we were talking. This sweet soul, who is afraid of the world because of what she has been through, might get swallowed up away from home. But I quickly concluded that, while it might be scary and intimidating for her to be away at boarding school, she clearly should not suffer this abuse anymore.

Thank you all for your donations because truly you are making this happen for Alise.

2 comments:

Katie - Heard about your blog from Diane on the Surf Report today. Really amazing, inspiring, motivating. How can we help? Is there a link for donations? Or an address? Would love to have you come and speak at a League Of Hollywood Women Writers event about your trip and about how we can do more to get these stories told. It's a great thing you and Elisa are doing. Much love, Thania

Thank you Thania! Yes, there is a place to donate (and, the donations are tax-deductible). All the monies I've raised is going directly to the projects I'm working on. 100%. I am working with an organization called the African Millennium Foundation (AMF). Neal Baer introduced me to the director, Malena Ruth. Click on this link: http://1amf.org/vision_katie_oconnell.php. I will absolutely speak to your group. i am back dec. 3rd. you have my email right? oconnell.kt@gmail.com. (greetings from mozambique, by the way!) love you!

About Me

Please consider giving a donation to help fund the various projects I will be working on in Africa. You can read about the projects and donate here. Thank you!
http://1amf.org/vision_katie_oconnell.php